Alta Schrock, born into a Mountain Maryland Mennonite family, was a biology professor, community activist and founder of Penn Alps Restaurant and Craft Shop in Grantsville. While her legacy lives on today at Penn Alps, her accomplishments also include being the first Mennonite woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D.
Schrock’s formal schooling was delayed until age 15, though she spent a lot of her early years studying the lands and fauna around her home. She eventually graduated from high school in Salisbury, PA.
Her subsequent education and teaching career took her to universities throughout several states. She earned an associate degree in biology from Waynesburg College. She did graduate work at the University of Cincinnati, Oberlin College and Kent State University, and received a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Pittsburgh in 1944. She taught at American University, Goshen College and Frostburg State University.
In the late 50s, Schrock felt called to change course. She founded the Springs Historical Society, the Springs Folk Festival, and the Springs Museum.
Fulfilling a dream to help mountain people celebrate and preserve folk traditions, she opened Penn Alps Restaurant and Crafts Shop. It is still a destination craft collective where artisans demonstrate and sell locally-inspired carving, weaving, pottery and baskets and preserve mountain culture.
As of this date, Penn Alps has showcased the works of more about 2,350 craftspeople, most of whom hail from the tri-state area around Mountain Maryland. In an historically impoverished area, Dr. Schrock had the vision to see that crafts collectives are a way to showcase the heritage of a people while also providing essential economic development.
Schrock died on November 7, 2001 in Cumberland and is buried in Upper Springs Cemetery in Somerset County, Pennsylvania. She was a life-long member of Springs Mennonite Church.
Dr. Schrock’s life was one of curiosity, an entrepreneurial spirit, life-long learning and devotion to community.
Sources and more reading:
Album of Maryland Women: Vision & Action, A Women’s history Display Kit, Maryland State Department of Education and Maryland Commission for Women, circa 1990s
Find a Grave, accessed 09/25/26
(Image above sharpened and color adjusted by AI)